Signs of the Times

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has called a meeting Thursday with top Vatican officials to discuss lifting the celibacy requirement for priests seeking to marry or who have already married. Benedict called the summit to examine the implications of the "disobedience" of Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, the Zambian prelate excommunicated in September for installing four married American men as bishops, the Vatican said Monday.

The Vatican stressed the meeting would not open a general discussion of the celibacy requirement but would only examine requests for dispensation made by priests wishing to marry and requests for readmission made by clergy who had married in recent years.

• JJ Commentary: In an age where Biblical principles are constantly being compromised, priests marrying is a principle without a Biblical basis, except for Paul’s stated preference. Allowing priests to marry would help minimize the problem of molestation and sexual abuse that has plagued the Catholic church these past few years.
  

MADISON, Wis. — A federal lawsuit filed Monday accuses the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs of violating the constitutional rights of Wiccans because the government does not allow its symbol on headstones in national cemeteries. But a Wiccan symbol representing earth, air, fire, water and spirit isn't recognized by the federal government for veterans' grave markers. "I honestly think there must be some people who don't want to acknowledge that the Wiccan religion should be entitled to the same rights as other religions," said Selena Fox, who is senior minister of the Wiccan Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld.

Stewart, whose husband was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, was rebuffed by federal veterans' officials when she sought approval to affix the pentacle to the Veterans' Memorial Wall in Nevada, but state officials said they would erect a plaque with the symbol.

• JJ Commentary: Jesus said that we’re either with Him or against Him, no middle ground. Well, the USA is either a Christian nation or it is not. When America first formed, this was not an issue. Now, through tolerance and relativism, we have opened Pandora’s box. Lord, have mercy upon us.

SAN FRANCISCO — A month after an appeals court ruled against same-sex marriage, the city and about a dozen homosexual couples have filed an appeal to the California Supreme Court. Gay marriage advocates hope to overturn the ruling that said limiting marriage to a man and a woman does not violate the constitutional rights of gays and lesbians.

In October, the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled in a 2-1 vote that, among other things, it was not the judiciary's role to define marriage — since 61% of California voters in 2000 declared marriage as a union between a man and a woman under Proposition 22.

• JJ Commentary: Talk about a Pandora’s box! For a change, the judges got it right.